Startups must decide at an early stage how their team should be made up. In times when the startup spirit is a good alternative to a classic career, many founders can handpick their dream team. That’s what they have to do, because having the best in their field in the team is crucial for success. Founders must pay special attention to the characteristics of their experts. One method of keeping track is to compile a list of the skills required and the company’s own values that new team members should demonstrate. The candidates must then be filtered according to these values and skills in order to create an optimal team fit. Many founders make use of specially designed tests that confront potential employees with the tasks they will have to face later.
Startups and their teams
It is important for all members of the startup team that they fully support the company’s mission. Working in an emerging company is a real hurdle if the team and the mission do not fit together. During their time with the company, employees become part of a larger family, a family that has to stick together. But how do employers know who fits?
The first thing the founders need to do is define the skills they need. Many young entrepreneurs postpone the definition of the skills they need due to lack of time, and in the first few months they recruit purely on the basis of sympathy or gut feeling. However, a well thought-out recruiting process has saved many a start-up from later stomach pains. Skills and desired results must harmonize right from the start.
In order to win the right talents for yourself, you also have to give something back. Startups must stand out from the mass of corporations and SMEs. The mission and vision of the company, as well as the culture and colleagues usually determine the attractiveness of an employer brand and motivate potential candidates to choose the rather inexperienced employer. The better they present the advantages of the startup world, such as flexible working hours or attractive benefits, the faster the startup team of dreams can emerge.
At the end of the day, startups not only look for innovators, they also look for solution seekers. People who recognize a potential problem before it even occurs. People who can empathize with the customer and manage the company as if it were their own. Even if such an employee may cost more, he will quickly pay for himself if he burns with the same passion for the company as the founders do.
